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This was my first piano solo composition - which I started just before Valentine's Day and finished shortly after it.
On the 1st of April, my friend Hiroko called me to tell me that she may be dying. I spoke to her husband that evening to ask if it was some kind of April fool's joke.
She had been diagnosed with liver cancer. It was very hard for me to believe it: a woman so vibrant, so alive, so healthy, so creative, and so charismatic.
I decided to dedicate this piece to her. Unfortunately, I was not able to play it for her in person, for by the time I visited her, she had moved to the hospital. Still, I played for her son and husband - who videotaped the session.
After my visit, I gave a SPEECH at my Toastmasters' Club.
She returned home after many medical treatments - and passed away shortly before her 48th birthday.
14 February 2000
St Valentine's
piano solo by Anne Ku
in loving memory of Hiroko
Blue - The Cool God of Colors
What is blue?
Blue is the cool God of colors.
Blue is crystallized gem dust,
Or the flow of a strong ocean current
Blue is a sign of eternity and immortal magic,
It smells like the moisture of mysterious mist,
And the essence of water.
A flame of blue can burn you,
Or blue can soothe you with a cool breeze.
The aroma of cool mint gum
Rises to your nose.
The thin glitter of blue swirls gently in the mind.
In mood, blue is a swaying shadow.
But sadness sometimes comes,
And tears of blue drop to the ground.
by Eugene, Hiroko's son at age 10
Webmaster's note:
Interestingly parts of this poem were plagiarised by an adult female in
the US (name with-held) in a poetry contest. Plagiarism on the Internet
is common - but to steal from a child's work -- especially one that is
freely accessible on the Web - is, to say the least, appalling and desperate.
11 January 2004.